Cambridge academic blackmailed over gay sex

A Cambridge academic was blackmailed for £6,000 by a man he met at a gay cruising spot, a court heard.

Philip Ellis, 26, who is homeless, met the man at the Paradise Woods area in Newnham last year and was paid £10 for a sex act. Two weeks later, the academic paid him £40 for full sex.

According to the Daily Mail, Ellis then told the married academic, described as an elderly senior scientist, that his wife would be informed if he did not pay £4,000.

After the victim handed over the money, Ellis demanded another £2,000 and claimed he had compromising mobile phone footage.

Last June, two months after forcing the victim to hand the money over, Ellis appeared outside his house.

The victim, who is understood to have collapsed in shock, then admitted what had happened to his wife and contacted police.

Ellis, of Haddenham, Cambridge, was arrested in October after punching a college gardener.

In defence, the court heard that his brother died in 2007 and he had been struggling with drug use and his sexual orientation.

He was given a 30-month prison sentence for blackmail.